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Culture Madrid has had its fair share of cultural icons – Surrealist genius Salvador Dalí lived in the city as a student, as did film-maker Luis Buñuel and Ernest Hemingway hung around for a while, to write his masterpieces. Today, Madrid’s cultural temperature is still high. With a distinctive dancing style (chotis) and music (zarzuela) of its own, as well as the best Spanish performers and directors, a gem of an opera house, cinemas like palaces, and year-long festivities, Madrid’s cultural scene is best described as ‘exuberant’. Ticket prices for cultural events vary from around €5 to €25, with discounts on certain days (dia del espectador), usually Wednesday and early Sunday performances. While most hotels are happy to book tickets for guests, they will charge for the service. It is cheaper to book directly at the box offices, not all of which accept credit cards. Keen theatregoers can also make advance bookings at savings banks – for example, Cajamadrid (tel: (902) 488 488). Tickets for sold-out performances are available for purchase (at a price) at Localidades Galicia, Plaza del Carmen 10 (tel: (91) 531 2732). Tickets for performances at the state-owned theatres (the Comedia, Maria Guerrero, Sala Olímpia, Teatro de la Zarzuela and Auditoria Nacional) are available from the box offices at each of the five venues. The English-language monthly publication, In Madrid, and the Spanish weekly, Guía del Ocio (website: www.guiadelocio.com/english), print listings on cultural events in and around the city. Music: Madrid may have been a City of Culture in 1992, however, at that time, it was without a functioning opera house. Nowadays, the Teatro Real, Plaza de Oriente (tel: (91) 516 0660), is one of the most modern opera houses in Europe. The Teatro de la Zarzuela, Calle de Jovellanos 4 (tel: (91) 524 5400), is the major venue for zarzuela – a genre loosely comparable to Viennese operetta but encapsulating the idealised castizo (authenticity) of working class Madrid. The zarzuela season runs from June to September. Performances, including classical music concerts by Madrid’s finest classical outfit, Coro y Orquesta Sinfonica de Madrid (website: www.orfeoed.com/osm/osm.htm), are held at the Auditorio Nacional de Musica, Avenida Príncipe deVergara 146 (tel: (91) 337 0100), and outdoor (for six weeks only) at La Corrala, Calle del Meson de Paredes 65. On Sunday lunchtimes, during the summer, concerts are held at the bandstand in Retiro Park. Theatre: Madrid’s dramatic tradition can be traced back to the Golden Age – classical playwrights Lope de Vega (1562-1635), Tirso de Molina (1584-1648) and Calderón de la Barca (1600-81) are still at the core of Madrid’s programmes. The season runs from September to June – in summer, many performances are open-air, often part of the Veranos de la Villa festival (see Special Events). The Compañia Nacional de Teatro Clásico (website: http://teatroclasico.mcu.es), based in the Teatro de la Comedia, Calle Príncipe 14 (tel: (91) 521 4931), keeps the Spanish classics alive. International and contemporary Spanish drama is performed in the gracious Teatro María Guerrero, Calle Tamayo y Baus 4 (tel: (91) 319 4769), home to the Centro Dramático Nacional. Twentieth-century drama and international classics are performed at the stunning Teatro Español, Calle Príncipe 25 (tel: (91) 360 1480), built in 1745, on the site of a theatre dating back to 1583. Since its opening in 1995, the Teatro de la Abadía, Calle Fernández de los Ríos 42 (tel: (91) 448 1181), has met with great acclaim for its superb performances of international classics. A good introduction to alternative drama is provided by the Sala Triángulo, Calle Zurita 20 (tel: (91) 530 6891), which also hosts English productions by the ACT (American and Classical Theatre) and the Madrid Players. Most theatres are closed on Monday. Dance: The Teatro Real, Plaza de Oriente (tel: (91) 516 0660), and Teatro de la Zarzuela, Calle de Jovellanos 4 (tel: (91) 524 5400), juggle Spanish and international dance, along with their commitment to music and opera. Other venues include the Centro Cultural de la Villa, Jardines del Descubrimiento, Plaza de Colón (tel: (91) 575 6080), which regularly hosts seasons by visiting companies, and the modern Teatro de Madrid, Avenida de la Illustración (tel: (91) 740 5274 or 730 1750). Ballet Nacional de España (website: http://balletnacional.mcu.es) performs Spanish dance to full houses at the Teatro Albéniz, Calle de la Paz 11 (tel: (91) 531 8311), during the Festival de Otoño (Autumn Festival). Choreographer Nacho Duato has breathed new life into the Compañia Nacional de Danza (website: http://cndanza.mcu.es), which tours widely – brief appearances in Madrid’s principal venue, the Teatro Real, are hotly anticipated. Classical ballet is performed at the Teatro de Madrid and Albéniz by Victor Ullate’s Ballet de la Comunidad de Madrid. Flamenco dance has risen in the last 20 years, from an outdated genre to a living passion. Traditional flamenco vies with nuevo flamenco (new flamenco) and both are enacted at numerous venues around the city (see Nightlife). Madrid’s talented flamenco dancers and musicians perform at Teatro Albéniz (see above), during the Festival Flamenco Cajamadrid, in May. Film: Spanish films are on the up and up. International stars like Antonio Banderas and Penelope Cruz made their reputations with Spain’s leading director, Pedro Almodóvar, who first claimed the world’s attention with Women on the edge of a nervous breakdown (1988). Although Almodóvar is not a son of the city, he moved to Madrid when he was 16, where he studied cinematic art and made his now highly acclaimed films. His very first movie, Pepi, Luci, Bom and Other Girls on the Heap (1980) was set and filmed in Madrid. All About My Mother (1999) won Almodóvar the Best Director award at the 1999 Cannes film festival and Best Foreign Language Film at the 2000 Oscars. His latest movie, Hable con ella, was released to critical acclaim in 2002. Madrileños are great filmgoers, especially on Sunday nights. Prior booking is not the norm, so queues are long. The most popular performances start at around 2200 and earlier screenings are less busy. Reduced tickets are available – usually on Monday or Wednesday (día del espectador). Most cinemas are clustered around Calle Gran Vía, including the vast Gran Vía, Calle Gran Via 66 (tel: (902) 333 231), which has seating under sparkling chandeliers, for 1000 spectators. Films are usually dubbed Hollywood fare and homegrown products but screenings in English – marked as ‘VO’ (versión original) in listings and local papers – are shown at the large multiplex, Ideal Yelmo Complex, Calle Doctor Cortezo 6 (tel: (91) 369 2518). Arthouse cinema is on show at Ciné Doré, Calle Santa Isabel 3 (tel: (91) 549 0011). Cultural events: Each season brings a wave of festivities and parades, where religion, tradition or just sheer energy provides the impetus. Perhaps the most intriguing festival is Carnaval (Carnival), accompanying the traditional masked ball, Entierro de la Sardina (Burial of the Sardine), the week before Lent. In May, San Isidore is held in commemoration of Madrid’s patron saint, with open-air dance performances, theatre productions, zarzuela, pop and rock concerts and sports competitions. Summer (July-August) sees in Veranos de la Villa (Summer in the City), a season of theatre, dance, ballet, flamenco and concerts (pop and classical) featuring native and international performers. Autumn (October-November) in Madrid is just as lively, with Festival de Ontoño (Autumn Festival), a host of cultural events (film, concerts and theatre), including a number of premiers in English and Spanish. Literary Notes Madrid has drawn its share of literary talent. The great novelist, Cervantes, author of the classic 17th-century novel, Don Quixote de la Mancha (1605), is buried in Calle de Lope de Vega – named in honour of the great lyric poet of Spain’s Golden Age of theatre. (By a strange twist of fate, Lope de Vega’s house is located in Calle de Cervantes.). Madrid was also home to poet-dramatist Federico García Lorca. The literati would huddle together in the barrio literario in Old Madrid and drink together in the now famous Café Gijón (see Restaurants). Hemingway was to join the literary crowd as a reporter in Madrid during the Civil War. His ode to bullfighting, Death in the Afternoon, was published in 1932 and For Whom the Bell Tolls was published in 1940. The late 20th century has brought its own talent, including the 1989 Nobel Prize winner, Camilo José Cela, who died in 2002, and feminist writers, Ana María Matute and Adelaida Garcia Morales. |
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